getting off high atop a ladder (and a couch)

Dear Diary,

I just finished lunch and I'm back here in the coolness of the theater.  With the taste of vegan salad with peanut sauce still in my mouth, I sit here marveling at the sensual experience of this theatre experience.  I can hear the box office crew chatting and busily preparing for the show that is going to be starting in less than four hours.  The band is sounding so phenomenal, they are distracting me.  So much talent!

The sounds of hammers pounding, drills drilling and saws buzzing are adding their own texture to the music.   Maggie Lee, one of our sound directors...

(More distraction:  Get Off by Prince is up in the house as I type this..."23 positions in a one night stand..."  squirrel!)

...where was I?  Oh yes.  Maggie asks me to stand in a particular spot on the stage so she could adjust the lights.  While I was standing there, I asked the guy drilling what he was doing.

"Making a couch," he replied nonchalantly.  

"Like you do," I said, remembering the portal of shower-curtain like glittery awesomeness that I mentioned earlier.  Turns out his name is Banton and he's no virgin.  He's been banging away on the design team for quite some time.

While I was chatting with him, Maggie was atop a high ladder, helping me find my light.  I think that's what everyone at 14/48 does best:  Help each other find their light.  It's fucking beautiful.

From the land of 1000 crushes and deflowering,

Kymber

PS, If you're stalking me and peeping into my diary, you should totally come to the shows tonight at 8:00 or 10:30.  You will be altered in the most wonderful way.

dear diary, i have a crush on this guy...

the band revs up

Dear Diary,

I have a huge crush on this guy named Tim Moore and will do anything he tells me, including making my blog posts like diary entries.  ;-)

Tim is here helping out the band as they warm up and get going.  I'm seeing singers doing vocal warm ups and hearing tuning going on.  I hear C, D, G, E, C, D, G, E...while the strings play along.

The sheer variety of music they are preparing for us is just fantastic.  If you want to know WHAT they're playing, you'll have to come to the show tonight.  What?  I'm already letting you read my diary.  A girl needs to have a few secrets!

I will tell you this:  I overheard Erin Bryn Fetridge saying, "There will be a lot of strutting and hot, sexy numbers."

That's all for now.

(insert swirly autograph with a little heart at the end.)

THE BAND

14/48 provides a wonderous assortment of noises coming from the various rehearsal areas. I am blogging in an upstairs area when I hear "Arthur's Theme", by Christopher Cross, emanating from the floorboards. Once I satisfy myself that it isn't actually the floorboards singing, or a particularly talented colony of Carpenter Ants, or the ghosts of the Wing Luke Asian Art Museum, which formerly occupied this space, I take it upon myself to investigate further. I travel through a labyrinth of production spaces, where Mazen Award winner Gary Menendez sweats over today's list of ridiculous requests for set pieces and Michael Mowrey carries a crate that is to be a Pioneer Wagon to find the theater. Inside, the band prepares. By now, they have moved on, and are rehearsing "Ain't No Sunshine", by the venerable Bill Withers. I think Leslie Law sounds better than you, Bill. No offense.

Here they are folks.
Jason Anderson
Alan Echison
Banton foster
Leslie Law
Salo
Michael Owcharuk

January 16, 2010: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Play #1: Pretty Little Bluebirds
Written by David Schmader
Directed by Julie Beckman

Chris Ensweiler
Alex Samuels
David Goldstein
Alyson Scadron-Branner
Hana Lass

Play #2: Birds Fly
Written by Marcy Rodenborn
Directed by Tina LaPlant

Lyssa Brown
Keira McDonald
Jennifer Moon

Play #3:  Sending a Message
Written by Scotto Moore
Directed by Liam Cole

Connor Toms
Mik Kuhlman

Play #4: The Prisoner of Id
Written by David Tucker II
Directed by Darian Lindle

Matthew Middleton
Ray Tagavilla
Betsy Schwartz
Khanh Doan

Play #5:  Conducting Business
Written by Nick Stokes
Directed by David Bennett

Kaleb Hagen-Kerr
Ashley Bagwell
Andrew MacMasters
Sylvie Davidson

Play #6:  Beyond the Rain
Written by La'Chris Jordan
Directed by Victor Janusz

John Bartley
Becky Poole
Michelle Lewis Chiachiere


Play #7:  Pretty Flowers
Written by Jonah von Spreecken
Directed by JD Lloyd

David Hogan (or Deb Fialkow if David is too sick)
Ben Burris
Betty Campbell
Clara Rodriguez

Keep in mind, the people below are working on ALL 7 plays throughout the day.  Don't be shy in your praise of them.

Design Team
Design Lead:  Michael Mowery (he's way too self-effacing, but he is the Lead Designer)
Costumes:  Hannah Schnabel & Julia Evanovich 
Props:  Katie Hansen
Set Design & Construction:  Gary Menendez
A Little Bit of Anything Else That Needs to be Done:  Maria Menendez


The 14/48 Band:
Eric Lane Barnes - Percussion & Keys (if he's not too sick.  Get better!)
Alan Echison - Drums
Alyssa Keene - Vocals & Guitar
Sky Lynn - Guitar & Vocals
Tim Moore - Vocals, Harmonica
Dave Pascal - Bass
Robertson Witmer - Accordion, Clarinet, Saxophone

Dinner!

The band is on break and will be back to run the transitions AKA the music played between the shows.  Real conversation below:

"What time's the show?"

"7:30"

(hubhubhubuhbhuhbhbh... rawble rawble rawble)

"No, the house open at 7:30, show's at 8."

"OH.  then let's eat, be back at 6:30 and rehearse."

"Yeah, that's plenty of time."

(hurrah hurrah hurrah!  Rawble rawble rawble..)

The Band!

In order of appearance: Rob Witmer: Clarinet, Accordion et al.;Dave Pascal: Keys and Bass Guitar; Alan Echison, Drums; Tim Moore, Bandleader, Vocals, Harmonica; Alyssa Keene, vocals; Eric Lane Barnes: Keys, percussion, et al (not pictured yet.)

The Glue That Keeps The Show Together

That'd be the 14/48 Band I'm referring to there; and this weekend's group is stunning. Check it out:

Sky Lynn (Levator, Leda & The Swan) on Guitar
Alyssa Keene (Purty Mouth) on Vocals, Guitar and other instruments
Rob Witmer (Awesome, The Love Markets) on Accordion and other instruments. Trivia: Confirmed Bachelor
Tim Moore (Sourmash Stevedores) on Harmonica and Vocals
Alan Echison (Sourmash Stevedores) on Drums
Dave Pascal (Dr. Fleek, The Love Markets) on Bass
Eric Lane Barnes (Captain Smartypants, developing the City Artist Project production of Rapture of the Deep) on Piano and Vocals

And the winner is...

Mik Kuhlman. Actor and director accepting her award and sharing with the band.